As most of you know I love going to geek conventions. Went to Archon last weekend. St Louis’s oldest fan run sci-fi and fantasy convention. Celebrating their 40th. Had a BLAST! Got to meet someone I’m a big fan of. “Evil Ted Smith” He’s done movie miniatures, The ship for Titanic along with many other major films. And has also played monsters in many Sci-Fi B movies. Evil is also responsible for Rob Zombies stage show. Met people who worked on the last Mad Max movie’s special effects and CGI. Also Men in Black and the Dawn of the Dead movies. And speaking of Men in Black, remember those brain neutralizer flash things. They were one use only camera flash bulbs. After the filming was over they threw out boxes of them. They don’t keep any of those props. I could type for hours talking about the industry, nationally and world science fiction and fantasy award winning authors and artists they had this year. It was an A list of who’s who in the industry. The best part is these people walk the convention center like everyone else. You can stop and say hi or get autographs anytime you want. Not like Comic cons where you wait in line for hours. Then pay out to get one. Then never see the celebs till they show up on stage.
And the cosplay! The overwhelming number of over the top hand made costumes. Every fiction genre was represented. I did my steampunk thing with my coat and hat. There was one group. A six and a half foot Darth Vader. One Imperial Officer and seven storm troopers. Marching up the hall. I gave them a thumbs up and yelled out “That is AWESOME!” The guy in the Vader suit gave me a thumbs up. Later on I met up with this same group. They stopped in front of me. The guy in the Vader suit fist bumped me wile I was being saluted by seven storm troopers. I was FIST BUMPED by DARTH VADER! Wile being saluted by storm troopers!!!! OMG! GEEK Heaven! Ya, I know they’re not the real thing. But I bet I’m the only person you know who’s been fist bumped and saluted by fictional movie characters. Things were great! I went back and talked to Evil Ted again. Told him I was having problems with a chest crest for a suit of armor. I got a set of plans wile he explained how to tailer them to my larger size. Saturday was great. Till sometime around two o’clock.
Out of nowhere some invisible force decided to pour glue in both my eyes. This feeling slowly invaded my face. Then crept down to my feet. By 6:00 I knew I had to leave before I started to endanger the people around me. Missed the rest of Sat night and all of Sunday. I left the hotel early Sunday morning.
ConCrud is slang. In a nutshell it’s caching one or more flue or virus other people are already naturally immune to. Just like you have living in you now. Bugs that can no longer hurt you. Because your body is already immune to them. Every time you breath out you send them into the atmosphere around you. Somehow my system was compromised. I’m a poster child for good hygiene and eating habits at conventions. It’s a habit. Even before my very first convention I learned of the 6-2-1 rule. This is the bare minimum your body needs. Six hours of sleep. Two real meals a day. And one shower. That’s one shower a day. Not one for the entire three of four days the con may last… Yep, seen that too. For all the conventions I’ve gone to this is my first time getting this. I’ve seen many people suffering from it at cons. Or the beginnings of it anyway. One hospital visit and a load of modern marvels I should be back on my feet sometime next week. I go back to a specialist Monday. Right now I have some awesome stories to tell. Can’t wait to go to my next convention!
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I don't think Ill ever attend a Comic Con. Or anything like that. They are industry driven money making machines. This weekend I paid a grand total of $65 for my con badge. That got me in all three days. Was able to attend any event or panel I wanted to. And free parking. The most I've ever paid for parking was $10.
The Steampunk fest I went to was free. But did have a hand full of pay to go events. Spent a wapping $60 on tickets. But well worth it. The entertainment was awesome.
My biggest expense has always been the hotel room. Most of the cons I go to give you a discount on rooms. If the convention is huge they have deals in as many hotels surrounding the event as needed.
Your best bet is to look for fan run conventions. These are usually non for profit orgs Easy to tell. Because the event centers around a charity. Problem is cons don't need to advertise. Word of mount fill these places up quickly. Like the one I was just at. Getting almost 4000 people into one convention without spending a cent on advertising. But once you find one ask around.
OLD? There were 60 to 70 year old people at Archcon running panels, cosplaying and roving halls all day and night.
JL. I've learned to over spice and flavor food I want to take with me. That way even stone cold it's still really good. I've only been to one con hotel that had a mini fridge in the room. I had space to put four soda cans in it. The rest was filled with overly priced alcohol. Some of the hotels I've staid at had microwaves available. Usually in the lobby or some other large social place.
Nothing is cheap at a con. Archcon boasted $2.75 for a single soda or water. I've known con spaces that charge $5 for bottle water.
I've only been to one con hotel that had limited dining. Expensive limited dining options. What makes this worst is the convention center is not located in a pedestrian safe area. People have been robbed at gun point outside the hotel. I pack a LOT of food with me. Not a fast food joint, store or gas station for miles.
I hate it when the hotel hosting the con doesn't have microwave & minifridge in the rooms, like this will convince you to spend $20 per head on breakfast in the overpriced hotel restaurant????
I have a lot more video to go threw. But here's a shot of me and my Sci-Fi prop hero Evil Ted Smith.
I have learned to keep the spending down. Did come home with a few T-shirts. Some music, Like that wasn't going to happen...: ) And a few olds and ends that i really didn't need. Got to talk to a lot of great cosplayers, industry people and regular great folks. You should continue to go. Your never to old. I'm in my early 50's. There were many people my age there. And older. In costume. Totally AWESOME!